Reg Empey

Reginald "Reg" Empey (26 October 1947-) was the acting First Minister of Northern Ireland from 1 July to 6 November 2001 with Seamus Mallon, serving between David Trimble's two terms. He was also leader of the Ulster Unionist Party from 2005 to 2010, succeeding David Trimble and preceding Tom Elliott.

Biography
Reginald Empey was born in Belfast, County Antrim, Northern Ireland on 26 October 1947 to a family of Presbyterian Ulster Scots. He graduated from Queen's University with an economics degree, and he joined the Ulster Unionist Party during the 1960s, believing in Ulster unionism and anti-power sharing. Empey became a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly in 1998 and 2003, and he briefly served as First Minister from 1 July to 6 November 2001 while First Minister David Trimble took a break in order to resolve the UUP's differences with Sinn Fein. In 2005, he became the UUP leader after Trimble resigned over an electoral disaster, and Empey became a life peer of the United Kingdom in 2010, sitting as a UK Conservative Party member in the House of Lords after leaving the UUP leadership.